Apex is a language designed specifically for Salesforce’s multi-tenant, software-as-a-service on-demand environment. While it has some parallels with Java, the closer resemblance is to SQL.

It should be very familiar to SQL developers, claimed Adam Gross, vice president of developer marketing at the company.

That’s because Apex is very stored-procedures-oriented. For instance, you could use it to write an app that automatically triggers each time a new sales lead or customer account is updated. And, as we reported back in the fall, it dispenses with the rich media or mobile device support that you have with general-purpose languages or frameworks like Java or .NET.

The idea is to abstract the underlying plumbing, which involves securing each instance in a multi-tenant environment, plus tasks like load balancing and transaction rollback.

In essence, Salesforce’s on-demand platform, which started as CRM offered in a SaaS model, becomes much like the old turnkey environments.

The difference this go-round is that 2007 technology is obviously different from what it was in 1977 or 87, when turnkey environments were more prevalent.

For instance, in Apex, you now have a declarative environment for exposing a function as a web service that can be consumed by other apps in the Salesforce App Exchange, or of course with external systems that are SOA-enabled. You simply enter the term for service, and the SOAP or WSDL is automatically generated. And you can generate rich web clients and Ajax-style mashups.

And, of course, with time, the developers of Apex picked up a few lessons here and there learning how to develop a language that’s simpler than Oracle’s PL SQL or other SQL dialects.

The other highlight of the announcement was release of an Eclipse-based toolkit for Apex, providing an on-ramp for Java developers who have gotten used to the Eclipse shell and accustomed to the core features of the IDE. The difference, of course, is that the code compiles within the Salesforce on-demand platform rather than on a local server.

Obviously, as a new language, there is the need to train developers in an environment that might look vaguely familiar, but still carries different syntax. One of the strategies is providing a Wiki where developers can contribute best practices and knowledge, plus a new developer site, and training courses.

But these are just opening shots. Salesforce has proven successful in developing a community of turnkey software users customers who can take advantage of industry standard technologies, such as web services, to integrate their offerings. Apex provides the missing piece of the platform, which enables customers to extend or write new apps to the Salesforce on-demand platform.

But Salesforce has not decided to open source the language. And it has not yet decided whether to start a certification program for trainers or developers, although something like that will probably be necessary for Apex pick up steam.

Although Apex is a new language, at least Salesforce doesn’t have to cultivate a new developer community from scratch. Having drawn roughly 900 people to its first developer conference three years back, that community has since grown to 22,000.